Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
MaxAzua
Genuinely Don’t understand how we sidelined so much awesome potential from season 1 in return for this bullshit bruh, the best way to enjoy darker than black is to watch the first season and act like this sequel don’t even exist bruh it’s actually crazy how much humanity fucked up on this one yall
Making Hei a child beating angry drunk is quite possibly number 1 biggest fall off decision the dart could have landed on like what are we even doing bruh literally this is just a different show bro like where is my li kun bruh cuz this homeless fuck up is NOT HEI bruh
Read at the sourcejadethegem7
I have such mixed feelings about this anime.
The concept of Darker than Black is AMAZING. Contractors, the Gates, the whole mystery surrounding the world, the powers, the atmosphere, the music, and especially Hei... I was genuinely hooked. Season 1 was probably around an 8/10 for me, and even though it wasn't perfect, I liked the plot and characters enough that I decided to watch the second season anyway.
And I don't regret watching it, but holy shit... the execution 😭
Season 2 felt SO rushed. It kept introducing interesting ideas and possibilities, but then barely gave them enough time to actually develop. There were so many things I wanted to know more about, and by the end I was just sitting there like "wait... that's it?" The ending is probably what bothers me the most. Technically…
Read at the sourceDripfiq109
Firstly I would like to say that please watch the specials before starting s2 because that’s how u can basically enjoy the anime without too many wtf moments like why tf is this so different from s1.
Overall at the start of s2 I didn’t like it very much bcz of Hei being very different and the idea of a loli as the mc instead of hei but hei is still very much the protagonist trust me it gets better as u watch more.
There is some mad story pacing like perfect the more I watched the more sense it made and the better it got until the end
Just hope hei is happy finally after the end and well an s3 would be appreciated but what reason has hei left to fight now. Man should be happy but still an s3 is much appreciated and specially cause Theres a ton of stuff to cover and lots of mysteries to…
Read at the sourcejacilund
It's honestly baffling to me how this anime has a score of 7.45 as of writing this. Don't let the rating fool you though, it's due to people not having watched gaiden first. (2010 DTB OVA)
✎ Story 7 ✎
Weak point of season two, and it's not even that bad. The problem with the story is that it doesn't really answer a lot of the questions from season 1. It's also no longer following an episodic format. The plot could work as a standalone series, and Hei's redemption arc was really rewarding.
✿ Art 9 ✿
Unique characters with good animation. -1 for reusing some of the ability scenes.
♪ Sound 10 ♪
IMO the strong point of Darker than Black. Even though I missed the jazz from season one, the up beat beep bop fight music was interesting enough to make up for it. The way they use music to create…
Read at the sourceslightexag
Review on rewatch. S02 of Darker than Black exists only to show us to be careful what we wish for when we ask for another season of something good. The world would be better off without this. It takes the most interesting and cool character of the first season (Hei), neuters him, gives him alcoholism as a cheap has-been trope, then focuses on a new character nobody cares about. Everything that was interesting about the first season, from the noir vibe, to scifi intrigue, to funny or gripping side characters -- all this goes out the window with terrible writing.
This stands right up there with Haruhi Suzumiya's Endless 8 as far as biggest middle finger to the fanbase goes. If you want more of what makes the first season interesting, I'd try Psycho Pass or something else. S01 would've been…
Read at the sourceZora-Ideale
While many watchers have displayed utter dislike for this show, I have to say I disagree.
I realised this only when I was watching the final episode, but Izanami is the combination known as Yin and Yang. That's when I felt that everything clicked, and I felt like I have solved the mystery of the show.
Wikipedia definition of yin and yang:
In Ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (/jɪn/ and /jɑːŋ, jæŋ/; Chinese: 陰陽 yīnyáng pronounced [ín jǎŋ], lit. "dark-light", "negative-positive") is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.[1] In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates it…
Read at the sourceJohnTBrooke
If anyone was expecting more of Hei acting moody in a neo-noir-styled city, they would be incredibly disappointed. Going a 180 on the neo-noir influence of the first season, and the modern-episodic story structure, the second season of Darker than Black has many surprises, some pleasant and some very questionable, at the very least, it never ceases to entertain, at least for me.
Now that we are in 2021, Darker than Black: Gaiden is pretty much compulsory viewing before you start this second season. While I have no idea what the director and writers were thinking releasing the second season before Gaiden as a lot of plot points and story beats become a lot clearer once one has viewed the Gaiden OVA. Hell, Gaiden also strengthens Hei's motivation and character arc. Gaiden covers much of th…
Read at the sourceAnimeEnjoyer420
Summary: Darker Than Black's 2nd season is a better, but very different show than the 1st. Those tuning in expecting to see more of Hei being a cool guy and fighting villains like Batman will be very disappointed, as he becomes a secondary character to Suou, a middle school girl with all kinds of connections to contractors and an apocalyptic prophecy. It becomes something like a tragic magical girl story fused to the general neo noir structure and setting of the 1st season. However, the 2nd season benefits greatly from a focus on a single main story rather than the series of tenuously connected mini arcs that was season 1, and Suou is a more interesting character than anyone in season 1 was. Unfortunately a vague plot that leaves you with more questions than answers prevents it from being…
Read at the sourceJShepp
Watch the 4 OVAs before this.
I read multiple things telling me to watch this first.
What??
Why??
I was confused the whole time. The OVAs made everything clear without spoiling this season, only giving you an understanding of what to know going into it.
I regret not watching OVAs first. Would've made this season SOOOO much better for me... probably.
Sooo.... this is the first review I've ever written and I think it's super helpful, and it's not letting me post unless it's longer, so here we go... 3 extra lines of useless stuff to go for a post. Let's goooo!!!!
Read at the sourcebendyfire
**Mild spoilers**
I see a lot of people talking about how they hate Hei's character change, and I disagree. If you havent watched the 4 episode ova before watching this, you might feel different, but him acting the way he does makes sense. He is a man who has lost everything, I found the first half of this anime extremely good, and only started to dislike it towards the end. My main problem is the new main character suou, and the amount of loli fan service that there is. why does every time she use her ability does it need to have a naked anime girl transformation? and why the fuck does she fall in love with Hei even though HE USED TO BEAT HER? which again, makes sense for hei to do so. idk, this isnt really a full review just my scattered thoughts about it. i dont think that it is god aw…
Read at the sourceAreyance
this is a rant overall and not much of your typical review so in turn it got spoilers aswell
my gripes :
1)story wise
so many unresolved things and uncertain ending leaving u not satisfied and a very bizarre stoyrtelling ,this is written while having watched the ova they made AFTER the 2nd season then going back
practically shion had the power to not only copy the whole world with its inhabitants body's but also copy a full sized moon and somehow like hid them in it or smth ?thats the part im not following completely maybe he created both a new earth and a new moon but earth was obstructed by the moon ??)
so their final plan,their absolute trump card were just to abandon humanity and just copy everyone and send them away in a capsule ...
souo's resurrection didnt mean anything at t…
Read at the sourceSnowy_Cactus
This is my personal review/opinion of the show:
I NEVER rewatch animes. I dunno why. Maybe it's difficult to watch a show again knowing what happens already, so maybe that makes it boring for me.
But for Darker than Black, there is rare exception. I NEVER get bored of that anime. Even if I know what's going to happen, it's always exciting to see it on screen or to try and notice something I didn't see the first time. I've rewatched the anime four times already. It's just that good of a show :') It's also one of the first animes I've seen, so that kinda gives it a bigger advantage other other animes I've watched.
However, I don't know how on earth I managed to bear through this second season. The second season is the complete opposite of what was a masterpiece of a first.
I haven't see…
Read at the sourceParadox0042
Now, I know what you're thinking. Darker than black: gemini of the meteor. A lot of people think that studio bones screwed up making season 2. But, you dont see the bigger picture. Gemini of the meteor showed -spoilers- Hei without his power. Without his sister and without Yin. He was broken after the events that transpired after The black contractor. We saw another side to Hei and we saw what it did to him with the way he interacted with Suoh and July and even Mao. Upon finding out Yin was alive, he reverted back to his old personality and look. The oly thing i have to complain is that he lost his mask and didn't get a chance to wear it, but those are minor details.
Read at the sourceDman263
I thought this was gonna follow the first season where hei is the main character but it introduced some character out of nowhere to take the place of hei yin disappears no explanation read some forums to figure out what happened after the events of the first season. Overall it all comes down to this being out of place and not belonging where it is you cant simply timeskip the anime and ad new characters and a new story and expect it to be good there wasnt any buildup of hei story showing how it lead him to the stage in life he is at now
Read at the sourcePyroSpaceCat
i know a lot of people are upset about this because they came in with expectations and they saw the first series. but i stumbled upon it and had never seen anything from quite this genre. so as a story completely ignoring the first series it makes the central focus a girl trying to reunite with her brother. we see a diverse and multi-dimensional group of characters enter the story and while nothing is really finished (apart from arguably her story to find her brother) i think the disappointment in the characters match up with the audience which means there's no clash with how we feel and how the charactors feel making the ending more palatable at least in my case. besides i had got my bitter sweet ending i didn't need an answer because sometimes nobody really knows why things happen. besid…
Read at the sourcecrimsonix-art
I've never been so angry with an anime before, this was like a slap in the face for DTB fans. To start the story was about a little girl becoming a contractor she either puts up with getting slapped around by our main leading character or staked by lolicons, so child abuse seems to be the general aspect of this story and Hei being betrayed as a drunk child beater ticks me off, he's my favorite character! The story dragged through pointless crap, got to the point where I justed started skipping through it. I honestly don't know what they were thinking this new girl was just annoying.
Read at the sourceKetamigo
Preface:
I know purists will argue that series should always be watched in the order that they aired, but this is not "Kara no Kyōkai"- the mystery and artistic integrity of the show is not ruined by watching it in its chronological order.
I'd argue that this show is one of those exceptions were the CHRONOLOGICAL order is the BEST way to experience the show. So, watch the OVA, "Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden" before this (Gemini), as the story will be more profound and make a lot more sense. Seriously, The OVA is literally is described as "Telling the story of what happened to Yin and Hei between the first and second series."
REVIEW:
I just finished watching this season of darker than black and I must say I don't understand all of the hate and claims that the show changed…
Read at the sourceNekoutsu
I won't say this is the worst sequel of an anime I have ever watched, but I would still say I feel like I have wasted a day of my life watching this second season. The first season was confusing enough with crapton of answered questions and cliffhangers.But this one only added more confusion to it and made my experience of this anime horrible.
Story 3/10:
They had SO MUCH storyline to work with.It's not that they were trying to come up with plot as it progressed.They already had enough.But they never bothered to touch on any of them.Bear with me but I sure need to list some of them.They did not explain:-
1.Why the 2 gates appear in the first place?
2.Who exactly are Syndicate?What is their story? Why and since when they start to exist?
3.Why and how is Amber related to the Heaven's gate?W…
Read at the sourceIjsberry
First I will warn you that my native language isn't english, so sorry for my errors and incorrect sentence structure.
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A refreshing anime with a protagonist who is trying to figure out her past with hei. Together they are also trying to find the doll "yin ". The facts happened two years later after the first season.
Comparing to the first season this season is not episodical , what was definitely a plus for me. Hei teamed along with the girl "Shou " . Mao will return to the series as a flying squirrel and Hei comes back as a (more) depressed, maybe a disturbing appearance and alcoholic. This will upset the most people, but when you get over it you'll enjoy this series as much as I do. He also isn't the protagonist anymore, but I think the supportive role suits hi…
Read at the sourceHumbertoZero
Darker than Black Genesis of the Meteor
Well, where should I start? I honestly liked Darker than Black since the first episode, I got that vibe of “I'm going to like this” since the first episode and that’s is basically the same feeling I got with this second season.
[THIS WILL BE A SPOILERS FREE REVIEW - Only the names of the MC will be named]
I’ve seen many people commenting that they hate this season, that is bad, bla bla bla. I tell you what, this season is awesome. Don’t let other people tell you it’s bad because it is not.
Yes, this season is different from the original Darker than Black but it keeps the essence.
This season takes another aim to what the first Darker than Black was. It still has our beloved Hei, but it doesn’t take place immediately after the ending of the first…
Read at the source
